cleaning the church

[Bo Diddley]

Water conservation: If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down.

Yes. I blame misguided water conservation. When I walk in the latrine bathroom after someone is practicing water conservation, I light them up. It freaks them out because I'm normally quite mellow.

[Bo Diddley]

DH, love the story.

I am always deeply stirred when I clean around the Sacrament Table.

[Jeff Lebowski]

I've hinted at this here before, but about 5 years ago I had a semi-spiritual experience while cleaning the church bathrooms late one Friday. Up until this point I had griped frequently and openly about the members being asked to clean when the church has ample resources and/or members who need supplemental income/financial support. So I always showed up, but I did so begrudgingly.

On this particular occasion, our assigned group was planning to show up and clean Saturday morning. However, I had a 7am tee time, and I wasn't about to miss my weekly therapy session. Rather than leave my group in the lurch, I decided to go over late on Friday and clean the bathrooms. Then, I could text my group that the bathrooms were already done, and they could focus their morning cleaning efforts elsewhere.

That night, Mrs. D and I had gone to dinner and done some shopping, so it was nearly 10pm by the time we got home. I went over to the church at about 10:30. I filled the mop bucket and wheeled the cart over to the bathrooms, where I made quick work of the mirrors, sinks, and toilets in both bathrooms. As I was just about finished mopping the floors, I had an acute moment of deja vu. Something about the combination of the scented mop water, the late night in an empty building, and the 90s alternative playlist that was blaring on my headphones, suddenly whisked me back to my high school days working at TCBY Treats, where I spent many a Friday or Saturday night closing up shop from 10:30-11:30pm. Back then, closing the store included a bunch of dishes, but also cleaning the bathrooms followed by mopping the floors.

In an instant, I was overcome by a wave of nostalgia, and, in that moment, I became acutely aware that, even as a husband, a father of four, a relatively successful attorney, and a member of the ward leadership, I was, in fact, the same child of God who had mopped floors for $4.25/hr just a few decades ago. Something about my eternal nature of snapped into focus as I processed this, and it hit me like a ton of bricks: I was once willing to clean bathrooms for minimum wage, so why would I not gladly spend an hour cleaning the church every few months? Legitimately, I felt inspired and uplifted, like God had used this opportunity to teach me about the worth of my soul being the same now and forever.

So yeah, I usually just sign up and clean the bathrooms now. And I enjoy it.

That is great. Thank you.

[All-American]

I cleaned the church building on Saturday, too. I think that cleaning the building is about the dumbest of all assignments. Why can't we pay local members who need supplemental income to do this job? Seems like a no-brainer....

... and it is because I think this is so dumb that I force myself, as an act of humility, to sign up every time volunteers are called for. Similar reason for my participation on cougarstadium.com as a filthy Ute.

Local members who need supplemental income are among those I would least want cleaning the building.

[Clark Addison]

Going Friday night is also my go-to cleaning move. Not only do you free up your Saturday, but you skip out on the 20 minute post-cleaning "Are we done? Anything else to do?"

But unlike Donut, I haven't risen enough in life to be struck by the contrast. (I enjoyed the story).